


Heaven is a place, this is a train

by Hangmans_Radio



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluffy Ending, HEAVEN IS A PLACE, M/M, drabble prompt, drabble-ish, this is a fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29111226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hangmans_Radio/pseuds/Hangmans_Radio
Summary: “The eleven oh two direct train.” The man in the uniform told Gerard patiently. “To the celestial kingdom. You know. Heaven.”“Heaven?” Gerard blinked up at the man, astounded.“Yes, heaven.” The man, who’s silver name tag readFrank, just smiled at him. “I’m sure you must be in a lot of shock. It’s always difficult when it was sudden. But don’t you worry your little head about it, everything will be explained thoroughly when we arrive. Now just sit back and relax.” He flashed Gerard a toothy grin and then carried on his way down the train.OR- the fic where soulmates meet at last on the train to heaven.
Relationships: Grant Morrison/Gerard Way
Comments: 18
Kudos: 31





	Heaven is a place, this is a train

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rylescoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rylescoe/gifts).



> Ry posted this super cute prompt on their Twitter - Drabble prompt. Soulmates who never found each other on earth meet on the train ride to heaven - And I just had to do it. 
> 
> This has taken that prompt and ran with it a little past a drabble, and also worked in an old prompt idea I saw on Tumblr once upon an age ago about soulmates having tattoos that help identify each other. It's just a mash up of cute ideas really, and I hope you enjoy! <3
> 
> For Ry, who as ever, keeps these writing cogs a'turnin.

“It should be illegal to work on one’s birthday.” Sam, Grant’s current work experience kid, was complaining passionately on their behalf as they produced a homemade chocolate cake with the numbers five and zero mapped out in white chocolate buttons. It wasn’t the sort of cake that would win any competitions, the frosting was laid on too thick and though a clear attempt had been made to smooth it out, it had just left spatula lines in the chocolate; and the cake within was somewhat dense and claggy. But it was, for all its flaws, the loveliest birthday cake Grant had received in a long, long time.

“Especially _special_ birthdays, like this one.” Sam, who was still in art college and all of nineteen years old, gave Grant a miserable half smile. 

“I assure you my dear, this birthday is no more special than any other.” Grant smiled warmly at the young woman and thanked her kindly for the cake. 

“But you’re fifty. _Fifty_. You should be out partying and making out with hot young things in a cocktail bar somewhere.” Sam insisted. “Not slaving away at work.”

“I wouldn’t call what I do _slaving_.” Grant chuckled, looking around pointedly at their plush office and many accolades lining the walls. Really, for someone who made so much money simply doing what they loved, they had nothing at all to feel sad about. In fact, Grant had nowhere else they’d rather be than work these days. There was nothing at all in their life worth thinking about besides what comic book they were working on.

“Don’t look so miserable.” Grant told Sam pleasantly. “How about you make us some of those wonderful soy lattes of yours, and we’ll give this cake a try. It looks absolutely magnificent.” Grant held the plate up and turned it on their fingers, beaming at it as if it were the world’s finest patisserie. 

Sam perked up, glad she could do something to make the day feel even just a little bit special. “Right on it, sir!” She beamed, bouncing away to make the coffees and leaving Grant to sit down in their chair and gaze out the window at the city below.

Now that they were alone, Grant allowed their smile to drop and their gaze turned forlorn. The truth was, turning fifty made them feel rather miserable. They looked down at the tattoo on their wrist, reading the four words that had appeared in sharp black letters as soon as they were old enough to read. Those words were the proof that there was someone out there for them… someone who would love them unconditionally, their soulmate. Because those four words were the first words their soulmate would ever say to them.

Grant had been waiting their whole life to meet this person, whoever they might be, but as the years tumbled away like sand in an hourglass, their life dripped away with it and still they spent it, waiting. Waiting.

Grant had had dozens of relationships, had even been in love - or so they thought, sometimes - but ultimately those relationships ended and they were left as they always were. Alone. 

How much longer must they wait? At this rate, they’d have no more time left when they eventually met their soulmate. 

“Please…” Grant whispered, running their finger gently over the tattoo and closing their eyes. “Please, just give me a sign. Where will I meet them? _How_ will I meet them? Give me a hint, _please_.”

Grant didn’t know if they were praying to God, asking the universe or simply making a wish. But in the end it didn’t matter either way.

Because at exactly two minutes past eleven, Grant Morrison, with a shining bill of health, had an unexplainable heart attack and died.

***

Gerard was late. _Extremely_ late. If he was ever going to keep his job at Cartoon Network then he needed to get to his next performance review _on time_ or he’d surely be fired. They were already pissed at him for dropping coffee all over last week’s storyboard, and the traffic on this side of town was so unpredictable he was often supremely early, and sometimes just plain old late. 

Today was another one of those days. He’d got the nine o’ clock train to give himself double the amount of time he needed, but then debris on the tracks had stalled them for almost an hour before they’d set off. And then the subway was so packed with people that getting across the city had been like trying to swim through tar. And now that he was within sight of the Cartoon Network building, he found himself held back by fluorescent orange barriers whilst a crane lifted a piano to a fourth floor apartment. 

“Hey! Hey, excuse me!” Gerard waved frantically at one of the workers standing around in a hard hat. “Hey, can I just quickly shoot by - I’m so late for work!” The piano hadn’t even been lifted yet, and Gerard could be past in a flash. 

“Yeah me too buddy.” The man next to Gerard waved at the worker too. “I’m super late, can we get past?”

“And me?” A woman piped up somewhere behind them, lifting her arm. “I’m late too!”

“Yeah yeah, I’m sure you’re all late.” The guy in the hat spat on the sidewalk and rolled his eyes. “We’ll be five minutes, just hold your horses.”

“No but-” Gerard groaned and flopped over the barrier. It was clearly useless to fight, but a quick glance at his watch showed him that it was already one minute past eleven. His meeting should have started sixty seconds ago, and every second _not_ in his boss’s office was another second closer to being let go. 

The piano was starting to lift now, agonisingly slowly. It tipped haphazardly in its bonds, swaying lightly from side to side as it ascended. 

Gerard looked at his watch again, and then at the little orange barrier holding him back. It was just a flimsy thing, and he could pull the two halves of it aside so he could squeeze through. He wasn’t one for breaking the rules normally, in fact it made him feel sick just thinking about it, but this was his _dream job_ and he couldn’t lose it now; not after only just starting. 

“I’m really sorry.” He squeaked as he squeezed his way past the barrier and bolted for the other side. 

“Hey!” The workers all turned to stare at him, faces twisted up angrily but Gerard just darted past them, hugging his artwork folder to his chest. 

“Sorry! So sorry! I’m just so late!” He tried to explain as he darted past, running beneath the piano which was edging up towards the first floor now. “So sorry -”

“Hey buddy, watch out!”

Gerard looked up instinctively, just in time to see one of the straps on the piano snap and a shiny black leg come hurtling towards him.

His watch showed two minutes past eleven when his head was cracked open like an egg, and he tumbled to the ground, dead.

***

“Name?” 

Gerard blinked and looked around. For a moment he thought he was back on the subway, but then he realised that couldn’t be right. This train was much cleaner and much brighter and though full of people, also gave the illusion of being perfectly empty. 

“Hello? Sir?” A hand waved in front of Gerard’s face, pulling his focus to a short man wearing a pale blue uniform who was standing in front of him. “Name?”

“Uh, me?” Gerard shook his head, dazed. “Gerard Way.”

“Thank you.” The man sang cheerfully and ticked something off on a clipboard he held in his hands. He was a very happy looking man, with dark hair tucked under a train conductor's cap and colourful tattoos all over his hands and the bit of his neck peeking up from his collar. “Hit by falling piano. Yeesh, that’s a tough break. One in a gazillion chance there. You won the death day lottery.” The man laughed lightly and turned on his heel to walk away. 

“Name?” He asked the next person along. 

“Wait… wait a second.” Gerard turned in his seat and grabbed at the man's blue jacket, pulling him back. “Where the hell am I?”

“Oooh we don’t like that word here.” The man turned and tapped the end of his pen on Gerard’s nose in gentle admonishment. “This is the eleven oh two direct train to the celestial kingdom. Nothing _hellish_ about it.” He scoffed. 

“The eleven… the celestial… the what?” Gerard was still confused. He looked around at the train again. The whole carriage was mostly white and pale blue, with a sort of pearlescent sheen to it. There was a mist floating down the walkway, obscuring their feet, and the mist had silver glitter shimmering in it. It was like Liberace’s view of heaven, all shiny and sparkly and camp as you like. 

“The eleven oh two direct train.” The man in the uniform told Gerard patiently. “To the celestial kingdom. You know. Heaven.” 

“Heaven?” Gerard blinked up at the man, astounded. 

“Yes, heaven.” The man, who’s silver name tag read _Frank_ , just smiled at him. “I’m sure you must be in a lot of shock. It’s always difficult when it was sudden. But don’t you worry your little head about it, everything will be explained thoroughly when we arrive. Now just sit back and relax.” He flashed Gerard a toothy grin and then carried on his way down the train.

Gerard watched him go, still reeling, and then slowly sat back in his seat. He lifted a hand and touched his head, but there was nothing out of the ordinary there. The last thing he could remember was the piano leg falling towards him, like a club about to strike him right between the eyes, but there wasn’t a single wound to be found. 

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” Gerard looked up, snapped out of his daze, and gasped. 

Grant Morrison themself was stood in front of him, smiling curiously. Gerard had never had the privilege to meet them in life, and it seemed crazy that he would get the chance in death. Not only that, but Grant had said the tattooed words as well.

Gerard swallowed thickly and motioned to the chair beside him, too surprised to talk. 

“Thank you.” Grant sat down next to him with a grateful smile, looking a little lost and confused, just as Gerard did. 

Gerard looked down at his wrist, at the words marked there, still crystal clear. _Excuse me, is this seat taken?_. He ran a finger over them, and if he’d had a heart beat, it would have been racing. Those were the words his soul mate was supposed to say to him when they first met. Gerard had heard them a dozen times in his life, especially when he moved to the city and started using public transport so regularly. 

The first time - when a pretty young lady had asked him - his heart had leapt and he’d almost declared himself her soul mate then and there, until he realised that his response - _huh? sure_ \- had meant nothing to her. That was also the moment he realised that these words which appeared so soon after birth were not as illuminating as he’d always thought… _Excuse me, is this seat taken?_ was too common of a question to mean much on their own. And so Gerard had gone through life, often having heart skipping moments when someone would ask to sit beside him on the train or the subway or the bus, only for it to mean nothing at all.

Grant glanced at Gerard and smiled faintly. It was clear the young man was lost in thought, and Grant couldn’t blame him. They were still getting over this sudden turn of events themself. One moment, they had been sitting in their office, watching city life from the window, and the next they’d been here on this train, apparently on the way to heaven.

It was sad, really, that they had died without ever getting to feel that soulmate connection, but Grant supposed it had to happen to someone. They looked down at their wrist, sighing heavily and tried to make conversation. 

“Well… I certainly wasn’t expecting to die today, on my birthday, of all days.” They said softly, smiling when Gerard looked at them. “It’s sort of poetic though, don’t you think?” 

Gerard thought about it, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. He wasn’t quite over the fact that he was sitting beside one of his idols, on the train to heaven of all things. 

Sensing that he was still too dumbfounded to speak, Grant went on. “I was so healthy too. Not that I’m mad about it or anything… Just didn’t think a heart attack would get me so early. How mundane.” They tried to laugh, but it had no feeling in it. They looked at Gerard, curious. He was so young, Grant couldn’t help but wonder what had brought him here. 

“I suppose it’s rude to ask how…” They began and then trailed off, not wanting to offend. 

Gerard chuckled, knowing exactly what Grant had been wanting to ask. “It was a piano.” He said with a half laugh, still not sure whether to feel sad or amused by that fact. “A one in a gazillion chance, apparently.” 

Grant didn’t reply at first, and when Gerard glanced at them, he laughed to see how astounded they looked. 

“I know.” He chuckled, laying his head back against the wall which was surprisingly warm. “I’d never thought about how I’d go but I definitely wouldn’t have guessed that… It’s kinda like something out of an ACME cartoon. I guess I like that.” It was certainly very apt, he thought, though it made him sad to think about his mum and his brother and everyone he had all of a sudden left behind.

Beside him, Grant was still quiet, and Gerard slowly turned his head to look at them. He lifted an eyebrow, wondering if he’d said something out of turn. 

“Are you okay?” 

Grant swallowed hard and looked down at their wrist. They had spoken to Gerard first, with no reaction, so surely it couldn’t be that they were… and yet, what were the odds that _someone else_ would be Grant’s soulmate and say those exact words…

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to stare at you like an idiot.” They laughed weakly, turning their hand over to show Gerard their wrist. “It’s just that…” Grant trailed off, letting Gerard read for himself the words that were marked there.

_It was a piano_.

Gerard felt his lips parting, and his stomach swooped. He turned his own hand over, certain that he’d be blushing now if he only could. On his own wrist were the words Grant had said to him. _Excuse me, is this seat taken?_

Grant read them over and over, and then slowly, slowly, they lifted their gaze to meet Gerard’s eyes, which were the most beautiful shade of hazel they had ever seen. 

“I have waited my whole life…” They said slowly, sounding breathless and awe-struck. “That we would meet in death…”

“Who knew that was even a possibility, huh?” Gerard laughed, feeling giddy and dizzy as he reached out and instinctively took Grant’s hand in his own. He laced their fingers together and felt warmth spreading between them, like a light that emanated between them and lit them up from the inside. Gerard knew deep in his bones that Grant was the one, and he loved them so fiercely it hurt. He had heard the stories from other people in life, friends of his who’d been lucky enough to find their soulmates, and had never quite believed them when they said it hit you like a ton of bricks. 

Or like a falling piano.

But Gerard could say with complete confidence that it _did_.

“My name’s Gerard.” He said softly, moving closer to Grant. “And I know you already… You’re Grant Morrison.” 

Grant smiled in surprise and laughed. “A fan?” He asked, incredulous. “Surely not.” 

“I’m afraid so.” Gerard dipped his gaze slightly. “Not a weirdo stalker fan, I swear. But I always wanted to be a graphic novelist and I’ve looked up to you for years.”

Grant groaned quietly, wishing with every fibre of their being that they’d met in life. “If only we’d had the chance to meet.” They whispered, rubbing their thumb tenderly over Gerard’s knuckles. 

“Maybe it’s better we didn’t.” Gerard leaned closer still, drawn to Grant like a moth to the flame. “This way, we don’t have to part.” 

Grant smiled warmly and leaned in closer, brushing the faintest of kisses to Gerard’s lips. It lit sparks between them and Gerard gasped in surprise, almost falling into Grant’s arms.

“Excuse me there friends.” The conductor, Frank, suddenly appeared again, squinting at his clipboard. “I’m afraid I misread my board. You two are getting off early.” 

“What?” Gerard frowned at Frank and pressed tighter to Grant. “What do you mean?” 

“Nothing to be alarmed about.” Frank smiled brightly at them as the train came to a steady halt. “But this is your stop.” 

A pair of sliding doors that either hadn’t existed before or Gerard simply hadn’t noticed, suddenly opened up before them. A white light shone from within, and little pieces of gold dust sparkled as they floated out towards them. 

“Thank you so much for travelling with heaven’s expressway, and we hope to see you again when the time is right.” Frank smiled warmly as he motioned an arm out towards the doors. “Off you pop.” He said cheerfully. 

Grant looked at Gerard, just as confused as he was, and slowly they rose to their feet together. Arm in arm, they walked towards the doors. 

“Will we be together?” Gerard asked nervously as the light began to reach them. 

“We will.” Grant said firmly. “I wouldn’t dream of letting you go now.” 

Together, they stepped into the light, and the doors slid shut behind them.

***

Gerard’s eyelids were impossibly heavy. He blinked them open slowly, fighting for strength. His head was aching fiercely, and when he opened his eyes enough to see bright light he winced and squeezed them shut again. 

“Gerard?” A familiarly accented voice reached him from a small distance away. “Nurse! I think he’s waking up!”

There was a commotion of hands and voices all around him, and Gerard reluctantly opened his eyes again when someone talked him into it. He found a woman leaning over him this time, shining a torch into his eyes and making him grimace. 

“There you are.” She smiled kindly and turned the torch off. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Gerard Way.” Gerard pushed himself into more of a sitting position, squinting in the harsh hospital lights. He glanced around, confused, and then noticed Grant in the bed beside him. His heart missed a beat and then picked up even faster, broadcasted embarrassingly loud by the heart monitor he was hooked up to. 

“Hello.” He said in surprise, blushing all the way to the tops of his ears. “Are we alive?”

Grant laughed delightedly, nodding. “It seems so.” They beamed, tears in their eyes. “You’ve been out for three days… I had no idea if you’d remember me when you woke up.” 

“Oh I remember you.” Gerard held his wrist up, his heart monitor going wild as he showed off his tattoo. “And I remember that piano too…” He went to touch his head, but only just managed to graze the bandages wrapped around it before he had to drop his hand away again, his head aching painfully. 

“Relax please, Gerard.” The nurse was looking flustered as she pressed the call button for doctor Iero and then tried to coax Gerard into lying back again. “You’ve had a very serious injury, you’re lucky to be alive.”

Gerard just kept on gazing into Grant’s eyes, his smile weak but full of joy. “Yeah… I am.” 

Grant laughed softly and quickly wiped a tear off their own cheek. “You’re going to be fine.” They whispered, tipping a wink at Gerard. “And when we get out of here, I’d love to take you out on a date.”

Gerard nodded, his eyes bright. “I would really, really like that.”


End file.
